More Trouble Than I'm Worth
by Rose Stetson
Summary: Sam goes to Washington, D.C. to explain the events of "The Road Not Taken" to President Henry Hayes, and returns with something else that's "need-to-know".
1. Good Morning, Camper

**More Trouble than I'm Worth**

Author: Rose Stetson

Rating: K+

Summary: Sam goes to Washington, D.C. to explain the events of "The Road Not Taken" to President Henry Hayes, and returns with something else that's "need-to-know".

_Bad Guys_:

"Should we not wait until Colonel Carter returns from Washington?" Teal'c asked curiously as the rest of the team seemed ready to embark on the next mission.

"She's still there briefing the President on the scenario that played out in the alternate reality where the Stargate was made public." Landry said, matter-of-factly.

"Well that's taking longer than it was supposed to." Cameron mused thoughtfully.

"It could be a good way to examine what might happen here." Daniel said, thinking aloud.

Landry tried to hide a smirk. "Sounds like President Hayes is having a hard time just getting past the fact that he wasn't President."

--

_One week earlier_:

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter stepped out of the Air Force jet. She looked down at her sleeve for a moment, gently brushing off a small piece of lint from the jacket of her immaculate dress blues. She took a deep breath of the northern Virginian air.

"How long you gonna stand up there, Carter?"

Sam raised a hand to her forehead, trying to shield her eyes from the early morning sun. "Sir?" She asked, confused.

Major General Jack O'Neill chuckled. "Thought I'd pick you up from the airstrip."

She grinned as she grasped the handrail and walked down the steps from the door of the airplane. "I wasn't sure I'd get a chance to see you this time, sir."

"You think you could come to DC, and NOT see me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know you're busy, sir."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well..."

"It's good to see you, sir." She said, warmly.

"Backatcha."

"Do you know when I'm meeting the President, sir?"

"Actually, not for a couple of days."

"A couple of days?" She asked, confused.

He nodded. "Something came up. International politics or something like that..."

She studied him closely.

"Okay, maybe I didn't tell him that you'd be here today." He shrugged. "Nothing wrong with getting you some extra leave, right?"

"Favoritism, sir?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head as he studied her. "Carter, I've read the files. You've been through hell these last few months."

"I'm not the only one, sir." She said, seriously.

"You were shot! You almost died!" He said, incredulously.

She winced. "Yeah..."

"Now, enough of that." He said, motioning for her to follow him. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Okay." She said, confused.

He led her to his car. As they approached, the driver walked over to the door, and opened it for them.

"After you, Colonel..." Jack offered.

She stepped into the car, somewhat confused about what he was doing. This seemed to be a little out of the bounds they'd set for themselves.

Jack stepped around to the other side of the car, and entered the backseat beside her.

"Where are we going?"

"I told you, it's a surprise."

"What kind of surprise?"

"The kind of surprise that is a secret." He said, shaking his head with a chuckle.

She bit her lip in concentration as she studied him, trying to think of what he might have planned. He shook his head. "You're never going to figure it out."

She rolled her eyes. "At least a hint..."

"You're the smartest person on the planet. You're not getting a hint."

She chuckled softly before suddenly yawning. She tried to cover it up, but the moment her mouth opened widely, Jack was watching her.

"How much sleep did you get last night, Carter?" He asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Well, sir, I wanted to run some simulations on a device that SG-14 brought back from one of the planets rebelling against the Ori. It's phenomenal, actually, that a civilization so seemingly primitive might come up with something so useful..."

"How much sleep, Carter?" He interrupted.

She smiled sheepishly. "I went to bed at 0230, and was up and ready for the plane by 0430."

"A nap." He said, studying her. "You substituted a full-night's sleep for a two-hour nap."

She bit her lip as she nodded.

He shook his head with a chuckle. "Get some sleep, Carter. We've got a long drive ahead of us, and you need your rest."

"Sir, I'm fine." She protested.

"Carter, get some sleep. That's an order." He said, seriously.

"Yes, sir." She said, nodding. She closed her eyes as she tried to find a comfortable position without wrinkling her dress blues.

"Ah, ah, ah..." He protested.

She looked up in confusion.

"Wouldn't want your dress blues getting all wrinkled. Put your head on my shoulder."

"Sir, you don't have to..." She began.

"Carter, would you stop fighting me and just do it?"

"Yes, sir." She said, nodding as she slipped into the comfortable space beside him. It was like covering up with an old blanket, warm and familiar. Almost instantly, she felt her eyelids droop. "Thank you, sir." She whispered as she slowly gave into the sleep for which her body had been aching.

Jack looked down at her for a moment, wishing that he could run his fingers through her short blonde hair as memories of their nearly ten-year-old relationship flooded him. "No problem, Carter."


	2. Impending Threat

An hour and a half later, the car stopped, and Jack moved his shoulder up and down to gently shake the woman who had curled up next to him. "Carter." He whispered.

She groaned, though remained entirely asleep.

"Colonel...CARTER." He tried again, thinking of when he'd caught her asleep in her lab when Merrin had come to visit.

Instantly, she awoke. "Yes, sir." She said, snapping to attention.

He chuckled. "We're here."

She blinked a few times in confusion before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, sir."

"It's okay." He said with a grin. "Just didn't want you to miss the festivities."

"What festivities?"

"You'll see..." He said as the driver opened his door.

After he got out of the car, he helped Sam out. She stared at the Smithsonian museum. "We're going to a museum?" She asked, surprised.

"Not just any museum." He said, shaking his head. "The National Air and Space Museum."

She grinned. "Really?"

He nodded. "I couldn't think of anything more appropriate to show you first thing in DC."

He helped her into the building, and instantly one of the museum staff approached them. "General O'Neill?" She asked with a friendly smile.

He nodded. "Yes."

"Come right this way."

Sam's brow furrowed in confusion, and Jack had to stifle a laugh at her expense.

They walked into a small room. "It's empty." She said, more confused than ever.

"Not...exactly..." He said as a hologram appeared before her.

She gasped as she stood face-to-face with Thor. "Greetings, Earthlings."

Her eyes widened as she looked at Jack. "What's going on?"

"Keep watching." He said, looking back at the hologram.

"This exhibit is currently under construction. We apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused you." The hologram continued.

"How..." She began as the hologram disappeared.

He chuckled. "The "how" isn't important."

"It's not?" She asked, confused.

"It's the "why" that you should be asking yourself."

She waited for his explanation.

"This room is being reserved for various artifacts that are currently being held at Area 51 - all deemed safe, of course - in preparation for the President's disclosure of the Stargate program."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Sir..." She began almost instantly.

"You're here to give the President an idea about what might happen, but he feels that once the United Nations is aware of the project, it will be time to inform the American public at large."

"Are you serious?"

"Right now? Yes." He said, gravely.

"Sir, we're not ready for that."

He sighed. "It's the President's decision, Carter."

"He's making a mistake." She asserted.

"Perhaps." He nodded.

"You think he's right?"

He shook his head. "I don't know what to think, Carter. But I do know that people are starting to notice unusual activity."

"Like?"

"How about Anubis's attack in Antarctica?"

"That was three years ago."

"And the building that you beamed up into outer space? There was a lot of controversy around that one."

She sighed. "What were we supposed to do, Jack? The whole building was the bomb."

"I'm not condemning you, but maybe if we tell people that we've been fighting this threat for the past few years, they'll recognize that it hasn't drastically impacted their lifestyles, and they'll go back to their Sudoku puzzles and baseball games."

"I don't think so." She said, shaking her head vigorously.

"What would you have us do, Carter? Wait until there's an eminent threat of attack that we're not sure we can handle?"

"Of course not!" She countered, angrily.

"Then maybe we should explore the possibilities of telling the world while there's no pending threat."

"That's just it, sir. The Ori are out there, and we don't know what their next move is."

"Which is one of the reasons I'm starting to get on-board to tell the world about what's going on."

She shook her head, more vehemently.

"Carter, it's the threat of global domination or destruction. They have a right to know."

She looked into his eyes. "And if this was Apophis, Anubis or Ba'al? What about the Replicators? What would you say then?"

"That was different, Carter. We didn't know if we could defeat them."

"And we know we can defeat the Ori?" She asked, heatedly.

"What I mean is that we've managed to hold our own against impossible odds before. That should give them hope that we can do it again."

She shook her head. "No."

"What do you mean, "no"?" He asked, challenging her.

"Sir, I've been to a world that knew about an impending threat, and they tore their society down around them. They were living in shambles, and I'd rather not see that happen again."

He sighed as he ran his hand through his gray hair. "Carter..."

"Sir, we need to wait until peace-time to make this kind of announcement."

He looked her in the eye. "We thought we'd found peace after the goa'uld infrastructure began to slide. We thought we'd found peace when we used the weapon at Dakara to destroy the Replicators in this galaxy. Now, we have the Wraith trying to get to Earth, and the Ori trying to either convert or destroy us. When is it going to end? Would you wait until every human is dying at the hand of the Wraith or until the Ori have spread a plague to all of Earth's inhabitants?"

"Now's not the time, sir."

"Something's always around the corner, Carter."

Suddenly, she felt as though they were talking about something completely different than the fate of the world or the galaxy. "Sir..."

"Sam...please." He said, softly. There was pleading in his eyes. She'd never seen him plead with someone unless the life of his team members was on the line, and even then, it had never been the total vulnerability she found in his eyes right now.

"Jack..." She whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

"How much longer?"

"I..." She began. "I...they need me..."

"I know. But they don't need me anymore."

"Of course they do." She insisted.

"They need my signature. That, they can get from someone else."

"Jack..."

"Sam, you were at R&D for who knows how long, and then the Prometheus after that. Since then, you've been injured, hunted, and transported to another dimension. When is it going to end?"

"Please don't ask me that." She whispered as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

He stepped back as he swallowed his feelings back into himself.

His silence was deafening for Sam, but she was truly afraid of what would happen if either of them said a word now.

A few moments later, they were sitting in the limousine again, and Sam wondered as she felt the tension of the awkward silence between them if there was anything else that she could have done.

The car stopped in front of a high-rise hotel, and Jack looked over at her, emotionless. "Looks like we're here, Carter."

She nodded as she inhaled sharply. "It does." She agreed.

"Well, let me know when you're ready for dinner. I'll pick you up."

"That's not necessary." She said, shaking her head.

"Whatever." He said, too tired to argue with her.

She bit her lip as she looked at him. "Thanks for picking me up from the airstrip, sir."

"Always." He said, softly.

She bit the inside of her cheek. "I'll see you sometime before I leave."

He nodded, noncommittally. "Sure."

She stepped out of the car, and waved numbly as it passed her.

She swallowed down bitter tears as she realized that she may have blown her last chance.

She took a moment to breathe before she walked in and checked into the hotel. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.


	3. Secrets

Three hours later, after a hot shower and a change of clothes, Sam stood in her hotel suite, staring out the window at Washington, D.C. She had many memories in this city. Some good, some bad. She had begun her work on the Stargate here. She had received countless awards here. Her dad had told her that he'd had cancer here.

She bit her lip as tears began to well up in her eyes. She inhaled and wiped them as they slipped down her cheeks.

She missed her dad, and she didn't want to sit around here, moping. She reached for the telephone and called a cab. She was headed to Arlington National Cemetery to visit her father's grave.

--

She walked slowly down the rows until she reached the familiar plot of land. She inhaled sharply as she bent down to place the flowers in her hand in front of the headstone. "Hi, Dad." She whispered.

She knelt down on the grass. "Sorry I haven't been to see you in a while. I had a few things come up."

She felt tears sting her eyes as she reflected on the past couple of years.

"You remember Cassie, don't you? Well, she was nearing the end of college, and with Janet gone, she was going through a bit of a rough patch. So, I learned something from you about what's important in life. I gave up my spot on the team and went to spend some time with her while I headed up R&D." She blinked away the tears. "The world may never know how much you've done for them, Dad. But I'll never forget. Especially with my days there in the labs."

She inhaled and exhaled, taking the time to feel the heaviness on her shoulders lessen a little. "After that, I did the space thing. Just like you wanted me to do. It was incredible." She admitted. "I thought I'd seen things I could never express before, but now...I don't know, looking at a star or a planet from so far away is one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. And I thought of you the whole time.

"After that, the new commander of the team asked me to rejoin. Apparently, he got Daniel and...Murray...to do the same. Daniel has a tag-along named Vala. She's something else. An ex-con, but also a moderately annoying bundle of energy. I think it's karma's payback for everything he put General O'Neill through in the early days."

She hadn't meant to think about Jack, but now, her mind was flooded with memories as her heart was saturated with feelings.

"How can I keep the rules from getting in my way, Dad?" She asked, softly. "You know I'm just like you. Regulation keeps me from going insane. How do I stop thinking? How do I just...feel?"

"You tell your brain to be quiet." Came a baritone voice from behind her.

She froze. "I don't know how to do that, sir." She whispered, refusing to turn around.

"It's not easy, Carter." He said, not moving. "But I hear it's worth it."

She stood slowly, pausing just long enough to dust the grass from her knees. She turned around, and looked at the General, still dressed in his dress uniform. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize. The hotel told me that you'd gone out, and I figured you had come here."

"Apologize?"

He nodded. "I put you in an impossible place. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

"You had every right to ask."

"No, Carter, while we're wearing our uniforms, I have no right to ask. That's what the regulations are there to do. Protect you from those kinds of dilemmas."

She nodded before inhaling. "I'm not wearing my uniform right now."

"Maybe not, but even when we're both in our street clothes, we're still officers on the inside."

"Yes, we are."

They lapsed into silence for a moment before Jack took her hand and gently turned her to face her father's tombstone again. "So...what were you telling Dad?"

"Just about the last little while. I was apologizing that I hadn't been to visit."

"Getting shot does little to help your travel plans." He said, seriously.

She nodded slowly.

"What else were you telling him?"

"I told him about Vala." She said, managing a laugh. "I said I thought it was the universe's way of paying Daniel back for the early days when he'd tag along with you and annoy you."

He laughed heartily. "I like that."

A small smile spread on her lips as she saw his face light up. She liked it when he smiled.

He noticed the look in her eyes, and turned to the headstone. "Hey, Jake, do you mind if I steal her for the rest of the day? I promise I'll bring her back before she leaves D.C."

He looked at Sam after a moment. "I didn't hear any objections."

She couldn't help but chuckle.

"Shall we?" He asked, offering her his arm.

"Suddenly the English gentleman?" She teased.

He shrugged. "Hey, if it works..."

"It works." She said, taking his arm.

He smiled down at her. "Good."

"So, what did you have planned for the day, sir?" She asked as they approached his car.

"Well, breakfast was part of the plan, but I assume you got some at the hotel?"

She nodded.

"Then I guess we go to the monuments, and then lunch."

"I've always loved the monuments. I go everytime I come here." She admitted.

"I know." He said, softly.

She looked at him, confused.

"We have done D.C. together, remember?"

She nodded slowly, caught in a reverie. "The first time was when we were supposed to get our air medals, right?"

He nodded. "That was when I met your dad."

She chuckled. "That was very weird."

"And awkward." He laughed. "It would have been a little nice to have a heads-up that your dad was an Air Force general."

"I didn't know that he was going to be there, sir."

"I know." He said, nodding. "Anyway, before we went to the reception, you said you wanted to see the monuments."

"Right. I'd forgotten that." She said with a small smile.

"Come on, Carter, let's go. Washington's calling your name."

"Yes, sir."

They walked down the mall in front of the Washington Monument. "I love the reflecting pool." Sam said, studying the water.

"It's beautiful." He said, nodding. "But that's not what I admire most about this mall."

She looked at the black wall opposite the reflecting pool. "Dad used to bring us here on family vacations. He would tell us about Vietnam." She said, softly. "I remember that Mom would make him take us to do something fun like the Air and Space museum before he took us to the Vietnam Memorial. She didn't want us to focus on the sad things. She brought balance to our lives..." She bit her lip as memories of her mother flooded her.

"Carter? You okay?"

"I'm sorry. D.C. holds a lot of memories for me." She said, trying to pull herself together.

"Carter, you don't have to be WonderWoman." He said, catching her hand in his unexpectedly as she tried to turn from him.

She looked back at how their hands fit together. Her fingers looked so small and delicate beside his thick, calloused ones.

Her lips parted slightly as she allowed her eyes to travel to his face.

He let go suddenly. "Sorry, Carter. Didn't mean to do that."

"Jack," she whispered. It slipped out of her mouth before she could give it a second thought.

His face clouded with confusion.

She bit her lip somewhat nervously as she leaned in, her eyes looking at his lips. She turned her gaze to his eyes before she felt the tender brush of his lips on hers. She closed her eyes, wondering if this little bit of heavenly ecstasy was a dream. She wanted to feel it; she wanted to remember this experience for the rest of her life in case it never came again.

The seconds before they pulled away from each other felt like years, and she realized that Einstein's theory of relativity didn't just have to do with black holes and gravity.

He coughed slightly, pulling her from her reverie. "What was that for?" He asked, looking at her somewhat confused.

"I'm...not exactly sure." She admitted. "It just...seemed like the right thing to do."

He raised an eyebrow.

"...At least it seemed right at the time..." She stammered.

He looked her in the eye. "Something change in the last thirty seconds?"

"Oh...no..." She said, shaking her head. "I just...I'm the one who keeps putting on the brakes, and I assumed that you...I mean, it was silly to think...I should have asked..."

"Carter," he interrupted. "It's fine."

She released the air she had unconsciously trapped in her lungs. "Good."

He looked at her for a moment, and she felt more than a little self-conscious with his gaze penetrating her defenses. "What, exactly, do you want?" He asked, slowly. "Because this morning you seemed pretty clear that...this...was against the rules."

"I thought a lot about what you said, Jack." She began, slowly. "I realized that you were right. At least...about us."

He raised an eyebrow somewhat skeptically.

She bit her lip. "I don't know; maybe I'm just a little emotional right now with all of my memories..."

He listened carefully to every word she said, and watched for any sign of the things she might not be saying.

"My parents didn't have too long together." She whispered as she felt tears moisten her eyes for the umpteenth time today. "But they made the most of it." She looked up at him. "You've kept mentioning the injury I sustained on duty. Well, it's been making me think too."

"And?" He prompted.

"I don't want to die alone." She said, matter-of-factly.

"You're not gonna die." He said, shaking his head.

"Not today, maybe." She said, seriously. "But just like everyone else, I am going to die."

He inhaled sharply. She reached out and took his hand, knowing that he didn't like to think about death. "I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, Jack, but you need to know." He looked her in the eye curiously. "I don't want to die being "sir" and "Carter"."

He nodded, thoughtfully. Then, he looked at her. "You once said that if you died, you wouldn't have any regrets."

"That was before I realized that my greatest regret would be not living life to the fullest." She said, softly. "That was before I realized that I'd fallen in love with you."

"You really want to do this?" He asked, not wanting to lead her into a life of misery.

She nodded.

"Then, I guess I'll do the paperwork." He said, thinking about all that would need to be done to remove the barriers to their relationship.

"Wait." She said, interrupting his thoughts.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"You can't do that."

"And you can?" He asked, more confused now.

"That's the point, Jack. They need us both. We can't sacrifice the program for our own desires."

"But you just said..."

"I know." She said, nodding. "And I think there's a way to do them both."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Secrecy."

"Excuse me?" He asked, almost shocked.

"Look, we don't need to tell anyone. Not Daniel. Not...Murray. Then, when we're done with the Ori, we do it right."

"There's always something around the corner, Sam. You just admitted it."

"I know." She said, nodding. "And when that comes, we'll say no. But we need to finish what we started."

He thought for a moment before he nodded. "Okay, Carter. You've got a deal."

She smiled softly. "Excellent."


	4. Backup

_Four Days Later:_

Sam walked into the Pentagon, wearing her dress blues and flashing her ID badge at every security point. It was nearly ten minutes before she reached the office of Major General Jack O'Neill.

"May I help you?" Lt. Bethany Powell, a twenty-something year-old, thin, brunette Air Force officer, asked, looking at Sam.

"Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter here to see General O'Neill." She said, urgently.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but he will know what it's regarding."

"Yes, ma'am." She said, reaching for the intercom button as Sam looked around the office. It was stark and clinical like most Pentagon offices were; it was so different from Jack.

"He'll see you now, Colonel." The lieutenant reported a moment later.

"Thank you." Sam said, managing a small smile for her as she walked into Jack's office.

"Carter!" He greeted. "I wasn't expecting you. What's up?"

She sighed, silently.

"Ah, the meeting was that great, huh?" He asked, sympathetically.

"I told him about my experience, but he kept insisting that he was a different president, and that he would never subject the country to martial law." She said, shaking her head. "If I wanted to be caught in a power struggle, I would have tried harder to save Kinsey from the Trust."

Jack had to bite back a laugh.

She bit the inside of her cheek seriously. "It was terrible, sir." She said after a moment.

He looked at her with equal seriousness. "You're not talking about the meeting anymore, are you?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Why don't you tell me about it?" He said, sitting back in the leather chair that Hammond had requisitioned from the office at the SGC two years earlier upon his promotion. He clasped his hands together, and he had schooled his features into what Sam called his "serious face".

"Well, first of all, they were going to abandon the rest of the galaxy to the Ori just because I'd offered them a way to protect their own sorry asses from the Ori ships." She said, angrily.

She noticed the shocked look on his face at her curse. "Sorry, sir."

"No, it's okay..." He said, shaking his head. "I just...didn't realize how strongly you felt about this."

"I do." She said, soberly.

"What else?"

"They used goa'uld pain sticks on demonstrators."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I was at this...gala..." She said with a sigh. "I was speaking with the President when suddenly, we heard a little commotion. Someone had gotten through security, and had begun yelling: "No security without freedom". They hit him, used a goa'uld pain stick until he was unconscious, and then beamed the President up onto Air Force One which had previously been the Prometheus!"

He noticed that her eyes were still troubled. "What else?"

"Sir," she said with a sigh. "They set up interviews for me with Julia Donovan, but cut me off when I tried to remind the country that they are the ones in control of the government. Not the other way around. They had me followed when I tried to find Cam Mitchell and Rodney McKay. They zatted me after I left McKay's the second time."

He bit back a sarcastic comment.

"I've never been..." She stopped herself. "Besides that...Mongolian planet where I was kidnapped and sold as a slave to that...chauvinistic Chief, I've never been more humiliated in my life than I was when they brought me, bound and gagged before their Commander in Chief..."

"Sam..."

"Only part of the problem is who the President is, sir." She said, seriously. "Most of it is about what our country is going to think about...the Project especially when science fiction is so inextricably linked to horror in the television and film industry."

"Sam..." He tried again.

"We can't tell them. Not yet." She said with eyes set in determination. "I need someone else supporting me here."

"You're the only one who saw it, Carter."

"You think you need to see a world where F-302s are used to bomb Irish communities with one word from the Prime Minister because of political differences? Where a multi-billionaire is blackmailed into government service so that the government can rid their world of a political conscience?" She asked, looking at him with more than a little frustration.

"Right...McKay was that world's Bill Gates..." He said, absently. It bothered him that any Sam anywhere would have married Dr. High-and-Mighty Rodney McKay.

"And he was that Samantha Carter's ex-husband, but none of that matters." She said, angrily. "The point, sir, is that all of his freedoms were taken away." She inhaled sharply. "I don't know about you, sir, but that goes against everything I believe in, and everything that I've been fighting for."

"Carter, I agree." He said, seriously. "But it's out of my hands."

"Just...a word..." She pleaded. "Something..."

"I'll see what I can do, Colonel." He said, seriously.

"Thank you." She said, accepting his formality as a sign for her dismissal.

"Carter..."

"Yes?" She asked, looking back at him.

"Are you finished with your briefing?"

She nodded. "Officially...yes."

"Unofficially?"

"I feel like I need to do more to get my point across."

"Carter, I'm going to do what I can. Let's wait until we know for sure one way or another."

"Yes, sir." She said, nodding somewhat wearily.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

She nodded again. "Yes, sir."

"Okay. I'll check in with you after I'm finished here."

"All right." She said, nodding slowly as she opened the door and walked out of his office.

He watched her go with a small sigh. It looked like she could use some cheering up, or at least a little help in her quest for justice. He sighed as he looked at the phone on his desk. Finally, he picked it up. "Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir?" His secretary answered promptly.

"Put in a call to the President. I need to talk to him."

"Yes, sir." She said, affirmatively. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Get me some dinner reservations for some...nice restaurant." He said, pensively. "Make sure it has a good wine list."

"Begging your pardon, sir, but I thought you were a beer guy."

"My date says she likes beer, but I know she just tolerates it. She's a bit classier than I am."

"Ah." She said with understanding. "Dinner for two, then?"

"Yes."

"Consider it done, sir." She said, seriously.

"Thank you." He said as he hung up the phone. He hadn't wanted to seem as phased by the President's idea as Carter had been, but he was just as unsettled as she was, if not more.

Damn politicians, he thought to himself as he hit his fist on the desk.


	5. It's A Date

Sam walked down the corridors of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, inhaling as she passed the door through which Jack had taken her only a few days earlier. She bit the inside of her cheek. How could Jack think that telling the world about the Stargate program could result in anything except disaster?

Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out. The caller ID flashed General O'Neill on the screen, and she bit her lip. After a moment's hesitation, she opened it. "Carter."

"What are your plans for the evening, Carter?"

"Excuse me?" She asked, confused.

"You looked down when you left my office, and I wanted to surprise you." He clarified. "Besides, I have some news that I think you'll find rather...exciting."

"Okay." She said, perplexed.

"So...plans?"

"I don't have any." She admitted.

"Excellent. Now, wear a nice dress, and I'll pick you up in the lobby at seven."

"Okay." She said, confused.

"Daniel tells me that you and Vala have been going shopping. Maybe you should wear something new."

"I didn't bring any nice dresses, Jack." She admitted.

"So, go shopping." He suggested. "DC has some great malls."

"It's...four-thirty." She said, looking at her watch. "I can't buy a dress and be ready to leave at seven."

"I have faith you." He said with a grin. "See you at seven."

"Yes, sir." She said as she hung up the phone, biting her lip in confusion as she tried to remember the contents of her suitcase. A couple of pairs of jeans, a couple of blouses, shoes, socks, undergarments, and dress blues were the end of it.

She sighed. Her musings on the current state of affairs were going to have to wait for another time. She had some shopping to do.

She sighed. She felt like such a girl.


	6. CityZen

It was exactly seven pm when Sam walked out of the elevator, dressed in a dark brown suede a-line skirt that hit just below her knee, stiletto boots that hit her mid-calf, and a lightweight cream-colored cashmere sweater. Her hair was carefully styled while her gold hoop earrings matched the bangle-style bracelet on her wrist.

The color of her eyes was brought out by the slight pop of midnight-colored eye shadow in the crease of her eye.

"I thought you said you couldn't do it." A familiar voice said from behind her.

She turned. "Sir..."

"I believe it's Jack for the evening." He said, dressed in a dark brown jacket that Daniel (who had become surprisingly fashion-conscious after his return to their plane of existence three years ago) or Teal'c (who had become equally conscientious about his appearance when he ventured further into Earth's culture) had clearly purchased for him. His khaki chinos were not baggy like he would have chosen, she thought to herself. He had tucked his light blue button-down shirt into his pants, and left a couple buttons at the top unbuttoned so that he was still seemed fairly casual.

"You look very nice, Jack." She said with a small smile.

"So do you, Sam." He said with a grin.

"Did Daniel or Teal'c buy your outfit?" She asked, biting back a small smile of amusement.

He pretended to be offended by her insinuation. "Neither!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, apologetically.

"Lieutenant Powell." He finally admitted.

"Huh?" She asked, confused.

"My secretary?"

"Yes, I remember her."

"She picked this up while I got the flowers that are being delivered to your room."

"Flowers?" She asked, surprised.

He nodded. "Nothing particularly fancy..."

"This is...another side of you, Jack..." She said with a small smile. "I think I like it."

He shrugged. "I try."

She grinned widely. "So...where are we off to?"

"The car." He said, leading the way to the valet station.

"You're really not going to tell me, are you?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Nope." He grinned.

"Surprise number 2 for the week." She said, shaking her head. "I think I'm going to have my quota filled by the time I get home."

He shrugged. "You never know with an ex-magician."

"An ex..." She looked at him surprised. "Magician?"

"Well...not really...unless you count my magic set when I was six..."

She laughed.

He grinned, grateful that after all their years dancing around one another, he could still make her laugh. When she finally let her hair down and laughed with her whole soul, as she was doing right now, he found himself forgetting that there was anything else with which he needed to concern himself. The problems of the world fell away in her laugh.

His classic red Camaro was waiting for them, and he opened her door for her without waiting for her reaction to the car. She slid into the car, almost shell-shocked as she ran her fingers over the tan leather interior.

He took his place in the driver's seat, and a moment later, she turned to him. "You have a classic Camaro?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"Yep." He grinned.

"This is fantastic." She said, earnestly.

"It ought to be with what I paid for it." He grumbled.

She tried to hide her soft giggle.

He shook his head as he drove down the interstate.

"Jack, where are we going?" She asked after a moment. "For real, this time."

"Hang on, Sam. We're almost there."

"Sir..."

"Carter..."

"Okay, I'll be quiet. For now..."

"Good."

A few moments later, he drove into the parking lot of a hotel.

"Jack!" She cried, surprised. "A hotel? What are we? Teenagers?"

He laughed loudly. "That's SO not what we're here for, Carter."

"What then?" She asked, blushing.

"Dinner." He said, pulling up to the CityZen valet parking.

The valet opened her door, and helped her out as Jack handed another valet the keys. He quickly joined her, and she heard the whispered mutter. "If anything happens to that car..."

She bit back a chuckle.

Jack smiled as he shrugged as if to say that he couldn't help it before he turned to the maitre d'. "We have a reservation."

"Name?"

"O'Neill. Two L's."

Sam bit back another chuckle as she remembered the number of times he'd given various reporters, ambassadors and senators grief about how to spell his last name. After all, the "other" Colonel O'Neil had NO sense of humor.

"This way, please." The woman said, grabbing two menus as she led them to a cozy, corner booth.

"This is great." Sam said as he sat across from her.

"I thought it might help you relax."

"You were right, sir."

"Carter..."

"Sorry." She said, apologetically. "Habit."

"I know." He said with a chuckle.

"You said you had some exciting news?"

"Yes." He said, nodding. "After we order."

Twenty minutes later, their wine and appetizers had arrived, and Jack looked at Sam. "The President's going to go ahead and brief the United Nations."

She visibly deflated. "Jack..."

"Ah..." He said, holding up a hand.

"What?"

"Any further briefing will happen at a later date - once the reaction from the United Nations has been gauged. Also, it would probably be best if the nations of Earth put up a united front when it's presented to the general public. I don't think that will be for another few years."

"What about the exhibit?"

"It's going to be sent back to R&D. Thor, on the other hand, will join the SciFi realm, introducing people to StarTrek, Star Wars, The X-Files, Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card, and other Science Fiction icons."

"Thank you." She said, seriously.

"Sam, I didn't disagree with you." He informed her soberly. "I just wasn't sure what the best way of handling the situation was."

"And?"

"I told the President that I had complete confidence in your abilities as a leader, tactician, and moral compass."

"That's all he needed?"

"I think you had convinced him once he got past the whole 'Hank Landry was president' thing..."

She chuckled softly as she sipped at her wine.

"What about this place?" He asked, looking around at the sophisticated hotel restaurant. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." She said, honestly. "You kind of look like a fish out of water here, though."

He shrugged. "It's not about me."

"If it was, we'd be in Minnesota, fishing in your beloved pond." She said affectionately.

"Or skinnydipping." He said, honestly.

"Oh, please..." She laughed. "We have enough trouble keeping Cam's pants and Vala's shirts on. I don't think we need any more wardrobe malfunctions on the team."

"That doesn't sound like the team I left behind." He said, looking at her strangely.

"Oh, trust me." She laughed. "It's not."


	7. Phone Calls

Four days after _Bad Guys_:

"Hey, Sam." Daniel said, entering her lab.

"Daniel!" She greeted warmly.

"How was D.C.?"

"Great. As always." She said with a grin. "What about you? Vala told me I missed all the fun."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Only Vala would think that taking hostages was fun."

Sam chuckled before she looked back at her friend. "What can I do for you?"

"Jack called. He asked me to see if you had gotten back safely."

She shook her head as she chuckled affectionately. "He's such a worrier."

"Yeah..." Daniel said, reminiscently. A moment later, he looked back at her. "So, what did you do in Washington?"

"I briefed the President on my experience in the alternate reality. Like I said I was going to."

"Obviously. And you saw Jack?"

"He welcomed me to the city with dinner my first night." She nodded, refraining from adding the fact that she and Jack had seen each other every night during her stay.

Daniel shrugged amicably. "What else are friends for?"

"Exactly." She grinned.

"You know, you look more relaxed than I thought you would." He said, studying her.

"Really?"'

"Yeah. A briefing where you have to tell the President that someone else was in his shoes in a different reality would be less relaxing, I would think."

"It wasn't that bad." She laughed. "In fact, it was kind of nice to get home at a reasonable hour."

"Home?"

"Well...hotel room..." She chuckled.

"Ah."

"So...was first contact with this planet really that big of a disaster?" She asked as she leaned her elbows on her desk, amused.

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Oh yeah."

"I wish I could have been there." She said with a grin.

"No, you don't."

"Okay, I don't. But I do wish I could read the file." She chuckled.

Suddenly, Daniel hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Jack's going to read all about it, isn't he?"

She grinned. "Yep. And he's going to love every minute of it."

Daniel shook his head. "Great."

She chuckled.

He sobered slightly, and she looked at him questioningly. "Did you visit your dad's grave?"

She inhaled sharply. "Yes. Yes, I did. A couple of times, actually."

"Good for you." He said, seriously.

"Thank you."

"Listen, I was going to go out for dinner. Did you want to join me?"

"No, thanks." She said, shaking her head. "I've got plans."

"A date?" He asked, interested.

She blushed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"It is a date." He said with a chuckle. "Let me know how it turns out."

"It's not a date." She called after him. When she was certain that he was out of earshot, she finished. "It's a phone call..."

Regardless of what it was, however, she knew that Daniel would want details, and if he hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut - as he usually couldn't - Vala, Teal'c, and Cam would want the scoop. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be so easy to dissuade as Agent Barrett with her "Not exactly..."

To be honest, how would anyone else try to explain the feelings that she'd held onto since she broke off her engagement with Pete? Jack had been there for her when her father died. Truth be told, he'd been there for her long before then, and he'd never needed to run a background check on her.

At that time, she'd been willing to wait until the Ori threat was eliminated to pursue a potential future. Now, she was living that potential future with all the thrill and fear of a forbidden love.

Her cell phone rang, and she saw the name on the caller ID: Jack.

She opened the phone to speak to her boyfriend. "Carter," she greeted with a small grin growing on her lips.

"Hey, Carter. How was your day?" He asked with love in his voice.

Sam grinned. Maybe in that other world, she was more trouble than she was worth, but in this one, she was right where she wanted to be.

--

_Stay tuned for the sequel "Keeping Secrets"_


End file.
